For far too long the church did the thinking for the people. In today’s culture this sounds less and less like a bad idea. What with Miley being Miley (whatever that means) and the constant demand of today’s progressing world for more shock value, to some of us who still retain more conservative ideals, the world needs a little more advice from the church. But as many thinkers during The Renaissance will tell you, even the church doing the thinking for you can be harmful. Before The Renaissance the church had a habit of telling the people what was right and what was wrong. It was very legalistic in its behaviors and standards and often committed unspeakable things in the name of God. Where am I going with this? The Renaissance challenged much of that mindset much like Desiderius Erasmus.
Erasmus challenged the day’s standards and ways of thinking. His opinion was that women should be allowed to be educated, he believed anything created by humans could not be perfect. He challenged exorcisms and alchemy on nonsense as well as beliefs in superstitions. One of the highlighted statements he constantly made was the challenge to take their life lessons from the simple life of Jesus and not rely completely on organized religion. I think it’s safe to say Erasmus would not be a fun man to go fishing with on account of all the boat rocking. With all of this said, I would most associate Erasmus with Redemption.
As humans, we have often had a knack for counting one above the other. We can put people down, and argue to be in the right. We strive to be perfect but as it says in Romans, we all fall short of the glory of God, – we all fall short of true perfection. Legalism is what God’s creation was into when Jesus came to this planet. He challenged common knowledge, challenged societal norms, saw all the flaws that were in this creation, and yet, his ultimate calling was to die for it. He died so that this imperfect creation would know redemption. Erasmus, in my opinion, saw there was a need for a change. He saw that what were considered normal ways of life were not right. Erasmus is responsible for a book entitled The Praise of Folly where he stated that fools were almost better off than the so-called wise persons because they live in accordance with their true feelings and not by superstition or doctrines. Erasmus was so critical of the excess of the Catholic church he practically raised the reformist “egg” that would later be hatched by Luther. (J. Wilson, 1994). He saw the church was doing more harm than good. So why associate him with redemption? I believe it’s safe to say he started us down the road to making faith our own. In the end, faith in Jesus is about having a relationship with him. It’s about grace and love and forgiveness. It doesn’t seem like the church, back then, was very interested in any of that. Erasmus, I believe, helped bring about a voice of conviction and change. He saw all was not well and did what he could to redeem it, did what he could to teach and share that we will not get everything right all the time. Redemption is necessary and I think Erasmus saw there was a need for that which is why he challenged.
D.J. Acevedo on Darwin's Outlook
10:50 pm, 10.21.13
Being in the south, it is interesting to talk to people who DO lump the ideas of evolution and atheism together. It is a little heartbreaking to see how, at the very least, a great thinker, is so quickly marked off.
D.J. Acevedo on
10:41 pm, 10.21.13
I too am thankful for an inquisitive mind like Darwin. I like the way you were very thorough in your assessment of Darwin and his studies. Very good thoughts and very insightful.
D.J. Acevedo on Kant Can't
11:14 pm, 10.07.13
PROPS! I initially wanted to write about Kant but found that he was pretty inconsistent as well. I never thought to put him in creation and you saw that like it was written in the stars. I loved that you were so raw with your thought processes in this post. You told it like it was and I really took a lot away from it.
D.J. Acevedo on Rousseau and the Noble Savage.
11:08 pm, 10.07.13
I could relate to what you said towards the end very well. It seems like we always have social norms pushing on us influencing what we want to do. Your post really challenges us to be intentional. We are always going to be bound to time but it’s what we do with that time that can affect our harmony I guess you could call it.
D.J. Acevedo on Jean-Jacques Rousseau
10:57 pm, 10.07.13
One thing I would ask, what do you mean by “fear is something fictitious from the outside looking in”? I have always felt that fear is very real on all sides. If I am misreading what you’re saying, I apologize. Aside from that, I like what you said about the humanistic perspective. I think it’s important we all consider everyone’s feelings. These days, it seems, we are too quick to jump to judgements and being able to jump on that seems more harmful. I’m speaking in terms of youtube, twitter, and Facebook. It’s surprising how harmful people can be when they speak from the safety of their keyboards.
D.J. Acevedo on Niccolò Machiavelli and the fall.
10:00 pm, 09.23.13
I like what you have to say about leadership. I went to Romania a few years ago and saw the affects of leader and his “iron fist”. It’s interesting to see what happens when we don’t consider our moral obligations in decision making
D.J. Acevedo on Francis Bacon and Redemption
9:17 pm, 09.23.13
“There is an element in redemption of knowing our weakness”. It’s an interesting take for one to claim our fallenness. It seems like, sometimes at least, we try very hard to deny we are fallen. Acceptance of our fallenness not letting that permeate our existence, very good reminder.
D.J. Acevedo on Bound and Broken
8:58 pm, 09.23.13
Tons of good things said in this post. Very insightful, especially about what motivates man.
D.J. Acevedo on Pythagorus and Redemption
8:29 pm, 09.09.13
This was a great post! I don’t know where in the world I would have put Pythagorus, which is why I didn’t write about him, but your post helped me to understand him a bit better. I like what you pointed out:
“However, as humans, our experiences and perceptions are limited and we cannot ever see this perfection. This represents the Fall’s ideal. It is in a sense, showing that we live in a separated state from that which is perfection.”
You pointed out a big truth; though we may never truly know perfection here, we will in heaven, what a beautiful reminder.
D.J. Acevedo on Aristotle- Creation
8:14 pm, 09.09.13
I would argue these questions are still very real today. No matter how many answers people may come up with, there will always be questions. I loved your post. Tons of great questions, and great writing!